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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To get complete rage when my teens are on their phones while watching tv?

80 replies

brownmouse · 04/02/2019 09:16

This gives me the RAGE. Particularly when we are watching something they want to watch: then they are just on the phones scrolling through pictures of nail polishes!!!

I think what gives me the rage is the lack of concentration on a single thing, which I think ultimately is pretty poor for your mental health.

AIBU and want to turn off "their" programmes and watch Great Canal Journeys instead?

OP posts:
JasperKarat · 04/02/2019 09:17

Most TV doesn't require. 100% concentration. YABU

BookMeOnTheSudExpress · 04/02/2019 09:17

You could always switch the WiFi off or not pay their top ups?

JayAlfredPrufrock · 04/02/2019 09:20

I annoy myself doing this. Glance at phone, get engrossed in something, miss half the bloody programme.

But sometimes there is a game of online scrabble that simply must be played.

ScreamingValenta · 04/02/2019 09:20

Why not switch the TV off if no one is watching it?

JaceLancs · 04/02/2019 09:21

I do this too, I also knit whilst watching TV, or do a jigsaw or crossword etc
I’m very good at multi tasking!

BlooShampoo · 04/02/2019 09:21

Yabu. Tv is pretty boring and a lot of people prefer to have it on as background chatter rather than watching it intently

Wonkypalmtree · 04/02/2019 09:21

Why is it bad for mental health?

bigKiteFlying · 04/02/2019 09:22

YABU

My parents were like this with me reading and watching TV.

Though if you want to change the channel - a conversation pointing out they don't appear to be engrossed and there's stuff you want to watch isn't unreasonable.

JudgeRindersMinder · 04/02/2019 09:23

You’d hate me then! I can’t just sit and mindlessly watch the tv. It’s not just a “younger generation “ thing either, when I was younger it would be a book or magazine in my hand rather than a phone or iPad

Singlenotsingle · 04/02/2019 09:24

I do it all the time. Doing it ATM in fromt of Good Morning Britain. If you want to watch Great Canal Journeys, tell them to watch their programs on their phones!

silkpyjamasallday · 04/02/2019 09:24

Ashamed to admit I do this, it's phone addiction plain and simple. It's an easy trap to fall into, after a pregnancy with HG spent by the toilet and reading MN while late night breastfeeding it has become a tough habit to kick. I find myself picking it up, starting scrolling and then realise I was reading my book and had no intention of going on my phone. I try and put it in a pot in another room in the evening so that I am less tempted than when it's next to me, you could suggest this to your teens? Better to stamp out the habit now than letting it spiral when they move out.

Original poster
brownmouse · 04/02/2019 09:25

God yes, I would hate you all as well.

It's the saying it's "boring" and "I didn't understand it" that is also annoying. When you aren't properly watching in the first place! Even if it's a film you bloody chose yourselves!

OP posts:
Believeitornot · 04/02/2019 09:26

Yanbu

It shows just how prevalent smart phones are. It is not necessary to be looking at them all the time yet we do!

ShadyLady53 · 04/02/2019 09:26

It’s not their fault. The white light from the screen was designed to be addictive. Google smart phones and dopamine and you’ll see that the majority of us are addicts now. It’s a very hard habit to break. I know I upset my family too when I’m watching tv and on my iPad. I miss the days when I could concentrate on one thing.

Original poster
brownmouse · 04/02/2019 09:26

How on earth can any of you understand a film if you are on your phone doing something else?! Sometimes it's just a key line that you miss and then you've missed the whole point of a plot line!

OP posts:
GertrudeWilloughby · 04/02/2019 09:28

I used to read, knit and watch tv (ok mostly stuff like Corrie or Brookside so hardly anything needing to think) now I often play online scrabble while watching tv. Or I'll be looking up something that the program made me think of. OH does the same. TV has moved on since all clustering around a wooden box and the National Anthem playing at the end of the evening... Grin

Butteredghost · 04/02/2019 09:36

I get you and feel the same, YANBU to not understand and be secretly annoyed.

But YWBU to say anything. This is their down time and relaxation time, and they should relax the way they want. If that's looking at two screens at once then so be it. Who cares if they miss a bit of the program - hardly your problem is it?

MissionItsPossible · 04/02/2019 09:39

It's not just teens though. If I'm watching a program and following on social media at the same time, I read and post on the advert breaks and the amount of people asking stupid, basic questions and I just think, if you put your phone down and actually watched the show rather than posting about it, maybe you'd grasp the basic premise of the plot and not have to ask who X character is.

bigKiteFlying · 04/02/2019 09:40

How on earth can any of you understand a film if you are on your phone doing something else?!

I was always told I’d muddle the book plots and TV plots but that was never an issue.

But I've never understood why the film Inception is supposedly hard to follow - maybe it’s because everyone on their phone and missing basic plot points?

The only TV series I can think I can't do anything else is West World - there so much going on little signs pointing to future events - and the BBC drama where the actors mumble and I need to have the subtitles up.

Documentaries may also need more attention though I do tend to look stuff up they talk about during them.

TotHappy · 04/02/2019 09:43

YANBU. With me it's husband, not kids. It is phone addiction. I can't stand TV on in the background either - just turn it off if there's nothing on that's interesting enough to actually watch?!

Walkingdeadfangirl · 04/02/2019 09:46

What age are you? You sound like a teenager, none of your business if they want to multitask. Time to get a hobby.

Mrscog · 04/02/2019 09:47

I think it depends on the situation.

  1. You also have spare time at the same time and would like to watch something properly - they are unreasonable and should let you choose while they look at phones.
  1. You would be doing something else anyway - let them get on with it.
NoDealNoreen · 04/02/2019 09:47

Gee, I hope you never have the radio on while driving or reading.. or take a book to the cricket.. or eat while watching TV Grin if they're happy let them get on with it and stop turning everything into a mental health issue when it's not

Original poster
brownmouse · 04/02/2019 09:49

I am in my forties. I am not sure how I sound like a teenager. My children say I sound like an 80 yo... Hmm

I think it is phone addiction, pure and simple.

OP posts:
Laniakea · 04/02/2019 09:52

How on earth can any of you understand a film if you are on your phone doing something else?!

Google the plot? Grin

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